Method and apparatus for presenting navigable data center information in virtual reality using leading edge rendering engines

• US 7,506,264 B2
• Filed: 04/28/2005
• Issued: 03/17/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Activision Publishing Incorporated (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Polan, Michael George
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Stephen S
• Assistant Examiner(s): Salomon, Phenuel S
• Application Number:
  US11/117,148
• Publication Number:
  US 20060248159A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,419 Days
• Field of Search: 715/757, 715/733, 715/734, 715/736, 715/740, 715/852, 715/853
• US Class Current: 715/757
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0273 using web services for network management, e.g. simple object access protocol [SOAP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0803 Configuration setting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/131 Protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality

Abstract

A method, an apparatus, and computer instructions are provided for presenting navigable data center information in virtual reality using leading edge rendering engines. Virtual rooms may be constructed using the mechanism of the present invention to include data center devices for a specific purpose. The virtual rooms are presented in a virtual space to the administrators. In one embodiment, responsive to a change made by administrators in the virtual space, the mechanism of the present sends change messages to existing data center management system, which in turn makes the appropriate changes to the devices or its data center information.

Claims

1. A method in a data processing system for presenting navigable data center information, the method comprising:

constructing a virtual reality space using a three-dimensional rendering engine;

populating the virtual reality space with data center information specific to a physical data center;

rendering the virtual reality space that is populated with the data center information in a user interface to at least one operator, wherein the virtual reality space that is populated with the data center information and rendered includes data center objects, at least three rooms, and at least one location on a map representing the physical data center, wherein the at least three rooms are (i) a free pool room depicting free servers that are not currently assigned to either one of an application and a network, (ii) an application room depicting all servers assigned to a given application, where other servers that are not assigned to the given application are not depicted in the application room, and (iii) a virtual local area network (VLAN) room depicting all servers belonging to a particular virtual local area network, where other servers not assigned to the particular virtual local area network are not depicted in the VLAN room; and

responsive to receiving commands from the at least one operator, performing data center operations on data center devices based on the commands, wherein the data center devices are associated with at least some of the data center objects, wherein the commands are translated by a provisioning system from navigations and movements made by the at least one operator, and wherein the navigations and movements are managed by the three-dimensional rendering engine, and wherein the navigations and movements include;

(i) picking up a server from a stack of servers in the free pool room and carrying the server to the application room to facilitate assigning the server to a cluster for the given application, and (ii) picking up another server from the stack of servers in the free pool room and carrying the another server to the virtual local area network room to facilitate assigning the another server to the particular virtual local area network;

wherein the data center information is dynamically updated by a virtual reality rendering engine responsive to a status change, and wherein the status change is triggered by one of a physical change made by the at least one operator, a change in the virtual reality space made by another operator, and actual occurrences of status changes;

and wherein the user interface includes a two-dimensional display of a data processing system, wherein the two-dimensional display displays a view port into a three-dimensional space, and wherein the three-dimensional space further depicts a control button that is operable for configuring at least one of the data center objects.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the data center information that is populated in the virtual reality space and rendered includes the data center objects, relationships between the data center objects, and statuses of the data center objects.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the provisioning system makes changes to the data center devices based on interpretations of the navigations and movements made by the at least one operator.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the data center objects that are rendered include at least one of servers, disks, and network devices, and wherein the at least one operator is a data center administrator, wherein current operational statuses are also shown in the three-dimensional space for at least some of the data center objects that are rendered.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the data center operations include all of a reboot server operation, power on/off operation, an apply patch operation, a move or assign operation to move or assign resources to distributed applications and application clusters, a reconfigure and assign operation to reconfigure and assign devices to load balancers, a reconfigure operation to reconfigure network connections and routing, and a create or change operation to create or change virtual private networks and virtual local area networks.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the navigations and movements include joining at least one server to the virtual local area network by using a virtual cable.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein environment of the at least three rooms is enhanced with colors and signage in the virtual reality space.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the apply patch operation includes picking up a patch off a shelf and attaching the patch to a target server.